Heartlands students place third in construction competition

Dean Gage, building trades instructor through the Heartlands Institute of Technology, took two students to a construction competition where the team competed against students from across the state.

Mattie Cookmattie.cook@sentinel-standard.com

Dean Gage, building trades instructor through the Heartlands Institute of Technology, took two students to a construction competition where the team competed against students from across the state.
The Michigan Industrial Technology Education Society (MITES) competition required teams of students to build an 8 by 8 foot shed in one day.
MITES, which began in 1928, is a non-profit organization that promotes hands-on and real-world learning.
“(They) had to do it all themselves with no help from the instructor,” Gage said.
The team consisted of Daniel Free and Caleb Merrifield. Chad Lange, a paraprofessional for the classroom, also attended.
“Out of 11 teams, they did very well and took third,” Gage said.
According to Gage, this was the first time the students competed in a building competition.
“The hard part is teachers cannot talk, or give any assistance to them. They must read the plan and do everything on their own. They had great teamwork and worked very hard,” said Gage.
As part of the competition, the plan provided to the students must be followed in order for the group to successfully finish.
First place was awarded to Garden City High School team and second-place winners were from William Ford Career-Technical Center in Westland.
“They did a fabulous job,” Gage said.